


Love Blooms in the Worst Way

by iheartlanceylance



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Langst, M/M, One Sided Love, Oneshot, Pining Lance (Voltron), lots and lots of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 15:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11211135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iheartlanceylance/pseuds/iheartlanceylance
Summary: Lance loves Keith. Problem is, Keith doesn't love him back. With his lungs slowly clogging up with flowers, how will Lance survive?





	Love Blooms in the Worst Way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ahhhhchoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahhhhchoo/gifts).



“It’s obvious that I am the better one when it comes to actual fighting!” Keith said crossing his arms and glaring at Lance. They had been having this argument for twenty minutes now after Coran refused to tell them who was doing the best with their training like they had asked. They figured a debate would settle it but neither was backing down.

“Nuh uh. No way! Just because you can swing your stupid sword around like ‘ooh look at me! I’m Keith and I’m ambidextrous and I really need a haircut’ doesn’t mean you are the best. My specialty may be long range but I can still kick ass up close.” Lance said as placed his hands on his hips. 

Keith’s lips pursed at the haircut comment. He leered in closer as he said, “Need I remind you _again_ about the time that Pidge kicked you so hard you went flying and hit a wall?”

“Alright, Mullet, you know wha-” Lance was cut off my his own voice cracking. His throat had been sore for the past two weeks and none of Coran’s weird remedies or any of Hunk’ different types of teas had helped it. He thought it was just some kind of space cold that would go away by itself soon but it only seemed to be getting worse.

“Ha! That’s it! I win!” Keith declared with a triumphant grin. That grin made Lance’s heart stutter. He was about to come up with a witty retort but instead he coughed harshly. A concerned look crossed Keith’s face but Lance waved it off.

Lance cleared his throat. “Sorry I think your stupidness is making me sick.” And shot him a grin before coughing more. Keith rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. If you get me sick you’re doing my chores till I'm better.” Keith started for the door but just before he left he turned back around to meet Lance’s following eyes. “But seriously. Get some rest or something. We can't save the galaxy if you're sneezing into the comms.” He gave Lance a small smile and tucked some of his hair behind his ear then actually left. 

Lance waited till Keith was well gone before running to his room. His face was in a full blush. God, why did Keith have to do that stupidly cute hair tuck! Lance flopped onto his bed and fought the urge to scream into his pillow. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance hadn’t been too concerned with his cough that only seemed to get worse as time went on. It just made his lungs hurt and made the whole team more concerned for him. They were asking if he was okay almost constantly. It wasn’t until one morning, while he was getting ready for the day, that a particular bad coughing attack scared the hell out of him. He had been coughing for almost a straight minute when he got an odd taste in his mouth. He couldn’t quite place it at first but after more coughing he didn’t have to. In the crook of his elbow where had been coughing was a single red flower petal.  
Lance slid down to the floor of the bathroom and pulled his knees up to his chest. This couldn’t be happening to him. Hanahaki disease. He had seen how horrible it was first hand since it tended to run in his family. Both his tío Peter and his older sister, Veronica ,had gotten the awful disease. His tío had gotten the surgery and now didn’t even remember a thing about his unrequited love or who she even was. But his sister, his sister refused to get the surgery. She had said that she couldn’t bare to forget the woman she kept so dear to her heart. She ended up dying after the flowers had filled her lungs completely. Lance shook as he thought about this. There was a very small chance that Alteans even could get Hanahaki disease never mind have any sort of surgery or cure. Besides, even if there was, that means he wouldn’t remember Keith. He would have to leave the team or risk the flowers developing again as he relearned who the red paladin was again. 

Lance felt himself start to cry. It was too much. By the time he finished with his crying session, he had already missed breakfast and there were at least seven flowers left on the bathroom floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allura had chewed him out for being late but the blue paladin could only get himself to nod and say a quiet sorry. His throat was burning more now than ever and he knew exactly why. The whole team could tell that something was definitely wrong and that included Allura. She told him to stop by the med bay then rest for the day. Lance just nodded solemnly before turning and heading for the door. It didn’t help that as he passed, keith gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. It only made him feel worse. He was able to hold back his coughing until after he was out of the training deck. More flowers were expelled from his lungs and into his hands. This time the flowers weren’t the only thing that was red. His hands were almost completely covered in blood.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
At dinner the next day Lance stood up just as everyone was finishing up.

“Guys,” he managed to rasp out, “I have hanahaki disease.” There was no way for him to say it other than bluntly. Even if his throat would have let him there’s just no sugar coating it.

Lance had been staring at his plate until a choked sob made his head whip up. Pidge was covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face. Hunk’s hands were gripping the table so hard his knuckles were white and his breathing was ragged. Shiro had to step out of the room but when he came back his eyes were red and full of concern. And Keith, he just looked angry, like he wanted to punch something. 

“I’m sorry, paladins, I’m afraid neither me or the princess know what you are talking about…Alteans do not have this condition” Coran said, his voice sounding small and sad, so very out of character for the usually cheery man. Shiro, as the leader, felt responsible for telling them. After his explanation, Allura’s hands were clasped to her mouth in horror. Coran looked stone faced as he slowly got up from his seat and approached Lance. The blue paladin almost broke down when Coran gently hugged him and said, “I’m so sorry. I wish I could do something for you, my boy.” His face was one who had lost so much and was looking loss right in the face once again. But, Lance kept his composure. He knew that if he let himself go even a little bit he would be coughing again and he couldn’t do that to the others. Slowly the other members of Voltron got up and joined the hug, all of them being so careful not to squeeze too tight. Only one person didn’t join and it was Keith. Lance had to bite his lip hard to keep that from affecting him.

Eventually, the hug ended and Lance flashed everyone a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Without another word Lance left the dining hall and went to his room.

It was really hard to sleep when he could hear the people he loved crying all around him.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
A week after telling the team about his condition, Lance could no longer sleep. When breathing was that hard it was almost impossible to get any rest. There was practically a pile of bright red, bloody flowers in his room even though he tried to keep everything clean. It would just happen again just as soon as he got the older flowers gone. One night, while making a trip to the kitchen for some water, the blue paladin stumbled onto a conversation between Shiro and Keith.

“-on’t care if you think it’s unlikely! The girl he’s so in love with that he’s dying is out there! She-she may not even be in the currently galaxy that we are but I’m gonna find her! I don’t care! I will make her fall in love with him!” Lance heard Keith yell.

“It’s tearing me up too Keith but we have to be rational here. If there was something we could be doing I’m positive Lance would have told us. We just. We just need to wait this out.” Shiro said, sounding defeated.

“No! Screw that! I’m not going to sit back and watch my teammate- _a part of my family_ \- die! I can’t!” Keith sounded like he was on the verge of tears and Lance was thanking his lucky stars that he hadn’t had a coughing fit yet. He hurried past the room and got what he needed from the kitchen. 

It was kinda nice that Keith cared that much.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Within another week, Lance was completely bedridden, coughing so much he barely had time to drink or eat. Needless to say, he couldn’t go on missions. They hadn’t even attempted to figure out what they were going to do with the blue lion once Lance died. They didn’t want to think about it. All four other paladins tried not to go in missions at the same time. They always wanted at least one person with him at all times. But eventually one of these times came up where they all had to go. Keith was especially reluctant to leave but he had to. As a paladin of Voltron it was his duty to help. And while he wanted to say ‘quiznak it all’ and stay with Lance, he couldn’t.

Lance bid them farewell with a small wave like he had been for the past two weeks whenever they had to leave. It was hard on all of them but it motivated them to get the job done quickly so Lance wouldn’t be alone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They won. They freaking won! It had been such a difficult battle but they managed to get through it. All of them had their own bumps and bruises but they were all alive! Keith spotted a straggling ship attempt an escape but he swooped down as quickly as he could and quickly demolished it.

“Heh. Hey Lance! Did you see that?!” Keith said excitedly into the comms before realizing his mistake. That’s when his world came crashing down around him. It suddenly hit him how different his life would be without Lance in it and he realized that that wasn’t a reality he could live out. Wet, hot tears fell down the red paladin’s cheeks the more he thought about it. Lance was such a crucial part of his life. He was his first thought when he managed to do something cool and he was on his mind a lot more than the others were. Keith almost choked on this realization. He loved Lance. He was in love with Lance. He was in love with a boy who was currently dying because of one sided love. A sob racked his body. Maybe if he had had these feelings before Lance met whoever he was currently in love with, Lance would have never have had to gone through this suffering and he wouldn’t be dying any day now. 

The other three paladins didn’t bother Keith as they made their way back to the castle. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Everyone brought their lions to their hangers and entered, each hoping that Lance was still alive. That they could say nice reassuring words to him before he died. Keith already had his helmet off and was rubbing away the tears as he exited Red. With his head down he didn’t see or expect to be almost instantly tackled in the most bone crushing hug he had ever received. He looked up and saw none other than Lance smiling down at him with tears in his eyes. Keith could vaguely hear shouts from the rest of the team. His brain felt so muddled from the shock.

“How...what..” Was all Keith could sputter as Lance’s grin grew wider.

“You love me back. Holy shit, _you love me back!_ ” Lance nearly squealed before smashing his own lips into Keith’s. Keith instantly wrapped his arms around Lance’s waist, pulled him closer, and kissed him back. Soon, the two pulled away, both with tears down their faces. Not tears of sorrow that had been shed for the past three weeks, but tears of complete and utter joy. “So does this mean…?”

“That we’re dating? Yes. One hundred percent yes.” Keith finished before wiping away his own and Lance’s tears and kissing him again. The other three had decided that the two of them had had enough one on one time. Keith wasn’t the only one who had been worried sick about Lance. 

Hunk picked him up and squeezed him so tight he thought his eyes would actually pop out of his head. Pidge punched the side of his arm then hugged him almost as tight as Hunk, her tears bleeding into his shirt. Lance didn’t mind. Shiro ruffled his hair affectionately. “Welcome back, Lance. Glad to see you back on your feet.”

Lance’s face was hurting. Not from all the coughing like before, but from smiling so damn hard. He had been laying in bed when his chest suddenly started feeling warm. Within minutes of the feeling he could breathe easy and he wasn’t coughing up flowers every five minutes. His throat went from feeling like it went through a cheese grater to feeling brand new. The first thing he did was immediately run to the control room. Allura and Coran’s faces were painted with shock when they saw him before breaking out into wide grins. Allura was crying and Coran was practically planning a party. They wanted to contact the others but communications between the lions and the castle were down. Lance saw the other paladins approach through the monitor and he bolted as quickly as he could to the hanger room and waited for the four to return. He was ecstatic. Not only was he going to live, but he knew that he was going to keep living while being able to love Keith. And if that didn’t make life just a little sweeter then what would?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I do writing commissions! If you are interested, hit me up on tumblr at voltron-and-chill67!


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